


Mountain Life

by organanation



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: #roguerobin017, F/M, Han and Leia argue, Jedifest Rogue Robin, Leia's nightmares, They go camping, UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/organanation/pseuds/organanation
Summary: Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca go on a mission into the mountains.





	

There were two ways this was going to work out: 1) Han and Leia would spend the entire trip arguing—both flirtatiously and not—slowly driving Luke and Chewbacca into madness with their incessant bickering, or 2) Han and Leia would spend the entire trip being sickeningly polite and courteous to one another, also slowly driving him and Chewbacca into madness.

It took only a few hours before the answer presented itself: they appeared to be in for three straight days of incessant bickering. First, Han and Leia argued about whether to follow the river or the map. The next argument was about how long they should walk before taking a rest or breaking camp. After that came the discussion about _where_ they should camp. Setting up camp brought about a hundred other little decisions for Han and Leia to fight over: fire placement, watch schedule, ration preparation, and all sorts of other tiny disagreements that drove Luke further and further toward throwing them both over the rock ledge. Finally, Chewbacca roared for silence, and they spent the next several minutes muttering quietly to themselves about the other. Eventually, Han’s muttering got loud enough for Leia to make out and they were right back to full-volume quarreling.

Luke set off to scope out the immediate area, more to get away from the bickering couple than to find tactical advantage in their surroundings. When he returned, they’d apparently resolved their issues for the time being, lit a fire, and spread out their sleep rolls. Luke couldn’t help but notice that Leia put hers near Han’s.

They had a packet of rations for the evening, and Han mixed them up and set them over the fire.

"Honestly, how do you expect us to eat that? I don’t consider myself a picky person, and I don’t have a weak stomach, but you didn’t even follow the instructions. Why do Corellians insist on adding so much spice to everything that the only thing you can taste is your complete and utter hatred for the chef?” Leia demanded. Chewie wuffed quietly

“You coulda just _told_ me you don’t like how much spice I put in stuff, your worship. You don’t have to go insulting every kriffing thing I do, especially when it’s—”

“Han, it’s on fire—it’s on fire!”  Leia interrupted suddenly as the aluminum foil casing burned. Han grabbed the makeshift bowl by the edges and swung it quickly off the flames, blowing on it and dropping it into the dirt to extinguish the flames.

“There. That’s why we put spices in it. So you can’t taste the burnedness,” Han improvised. Leia’s forehead dropped into her hand and her shoulders began shaking. It was only a moment before her laughter rang through the surrounding hills. Han’s soon joined her and Luke suddenly felt like he was intruding on a private vacation rather than a quarter of a team.

The evening was, after that uncharacteristic display, slightly more cheerful but far less eventful. Leia took the first watch, which wasn’t really a necessary shift but was deemed as such by Han when Leia insisted on being helpful. They were all still awake, watching the sun set. Leia sat cross-legged on her sleeping roll, her blaster on her lap as she scanned the tree line. Luke went to sleep about the time that Han took over the watch, promising that he’d take the dawn shift.

00

Leia snuggled deeper into her sleep roll, trying to fight off the chill. Luke was snoring somewhere on the other side of the fire, and she could hear Chewbacca’s deep breathing. Han was sitting up, looking at the stars, a look of near-awe on his face. She found that it was so easy to fall asleep with the sounds of the forest around her.

Walking alone along a high, rocky ridge, she pressed upwards towards an unknown thing that was summoning her _._ Something cried out behind her and she hurried forward, not turning back. The noise happened again and she finally found the cause: creatures crawling toward her. Her back slammed into a rock wall and she was trapped, the creatures crawling toward her, screaming.

_It’s your fault. It’s because of you that we are like this. Our voices were silenced, and now we will silence you, too._

She felt them clawing at her throat, keeping her from drawing a full breath.

Leia shot up, trying to scream, but the hands were closing off her throat.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Han asked. He was sitting up, keeping watch, blaster on his lap, blanket thrown over his shoulders against the mountain air. 

“I…I’m fine,” she muttered, finding her voice again. She put a hand over her racing heart, trying to calm it. Leia glanced to Luke and Chewbacca, who were both still asleep.

The scream from her dream repeated and she gasped.

“It’s just a sidwinder. They’re pretty harmless. They’re nocturnal, wander around the mountain and find insects in the ground.”

“It’s sounds like…screaming,” she murmured. He examined her face carefully in the glimmering firelight. He held out his arm, inviting her nearer. Leia glanced at Luke a moment and scooted her sleeping bag closer.

“They’re not gonna come any closer,” Han assured her. Neither moved from their intimate position, and Leia’s heart began to race for an entirely different reason. “You’re awfully cold, sweetheart,” he murmured, rubbing her arms to generate some heat.

They both started again when Han’s chrono alarm went off. He took his arms away to silence it and Leia felt like she might drop off the mountainside.

“Are you going to be able to get back to sleep? It’s Chewie’s turn for watch, but I will stay up with you if you want.”

“I’ll be alright.” He went to wake Chewbacca and she slipped back down into her sleeping bag, wishing she had the courage to let him see her vulnerable, let him hold her like he had been until nothing hurt anymore.

An unbidden tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away quickly before Han or Chewie could see the glittering trail on her face. A moment later, Han returned to his sleeping bag, which was still pulled right up next to hers, and settled in for the night. Leia’s eyes remained trained on the heavens. His hand brushed down her arm, which was lying between them. He clasped her hand in his, and a moment later, Leia laced their fingers together. They fell asleep like that, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, looking up at the stars.

00

Chewie woke Luke up at the first light of the morning. A fine mist was settled over the valley ad the ground around them was crunchy with frost. He sat near the precipice and opened his mind to the force.

His meditation was unsurprisingly aided by the peaceful wilderness surrounding them. Each part of the forest had a signature: the mountain projected stability, in the trees he found tranquility, vitality sprung from the stream. There was something else, an energy signature he could not identify at first touch. The young jedi explored it more and found that it was made up of two familiar presences: Han’s, and Leia’s. But instead of being rigid or alert, they were calm and peaceful, existing in the air as they only could during sleep. They were wound together in the most mysterious way, through and within and around, but not tangling together like string…

When Luke completed his meditation, he slipped from his trance and walked the few feet away from the precipice back to their ring around the fire.

Luke looked over to where Han and Leia were sleeping. Their sleeping bags were right up next to each other and their fingers were intertwined between them. That might explain the twining of their force signatures, or perhaps they had been dreaming of each other…In the past months, Luke’s crush on Leia had developed into a respect—a _friendly_ respect. It was clear to Luke that Han and Leia were meant for each other…eventually.

 He glanced down at his friends again. Leia wore a soft, peaceful expression that he’d never seen on her face before, and he cared for her too much to let a bit of petty jealousy get in the way of her happiness.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Mountain Life - Part 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636416) by [OtterAndTerrier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtterAndTerrier/pseuds/OtterAndTerrier)




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